Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1699

October 2:

Moscow is grappling with growing tensions over the construction of new mosques. According to the Washington Post, there are only six total mosques in the Russian capital, a city with a Muslim population of over half a million people, and only four of those six are open to the public. Waves of Tajik and Uzbek immigrants have begun to crowd the existing mosques, spilling onto the streets and causing concern for local residents. Muslim officials in Moscow have worked to find locations where new mosques could be built, but have consistently been put off by city officials. The latest attempt in Tekstilshchiki was met with public protests, exasperating the imam of the Central Mosque, Ildar Alyautdinov. “Let us build a mosque,” he entreated. “It doesn’t have to be there. Any place is fine with us. We need a mosque. We should have 10 at least.”


October 4:

Russian officials are moving to strengthen their claims to the resource-rich Arctic. Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, the Commander of Russia's Navy, recently sent a proposal to President Dmitry Medvedev requesting battleships to protect Russia’s sea routes in the Arctic, reports The Hindu. The Russian navy already has completed more than ten military patrols of the region - a higher level of activity than even during Soviet times. The reason for Moscow's interest is clear: experts believe that the region may hold as much as 25 percent of the world’s untapped oil and gas reserves.

A new bill introduced in the U.S. Congress has provoked warnings from the Russian Foreign Ministry. The legislation, reports the Moscow Times, would ban 60 Russians from entering the United States and its markets unless those responsible for the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky are brought to justice. Magnitsky died in November 2009 at the age of 37 under conditions which human rights activists have equated with torture, after he accused a group of law enforcement officials of a multimillion-dollar tax fraud. The Foreign Ministry cautioned the U.S. that the bill would “undermine cooperation between U.S. and Russian law enforcement,” and said the legislation was an attempt to politicize the “tragedy of Magnitsky’s death.”


October 6:

Of the 45,000 registered alimony payers in Moscow, only 770 of them pay promptly and of their own accord. The other 98 percent, according to the Moscow Times, require the intervention of court marshals, who are often forced to bar thousands from leaving the country. This year alone, 52,000 alimony payers have been prevented from leaving Russia because of outstanding debts. The total number of people paying alimony has seen a significant increase in the last year, rising to 12,700 from January to July, as opposed to the 2,300 over the same period last year.


October 7:

Thailand continues to be pulled between the U.S. and Russia over the extradition of notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Bout was arrested in Bangkok in 2008 for fueling conflicts around the world through illicit arms transfers and for conspiring to kill American nationals, reports Bangkok's The Nation. And the Thai Criminal Court’s recent dismissal of a second charge against Bout (involving money laundering and fraud) removed the final hurdle to his extradition, which was approved in August by the country's Appeals Court. As a result, Bout should wind up in the United States to face terrorism charges within 90 days. But the Kremlin has begun to pressure Thailand to prevent the extradition, and has voiced its intention to appeal the verdict - a move which nearly guarantees an extension to the 90-day deadline.

In the meantime, Thai attempts to shift the negotiations into bilateral channels have been rebuffed by Russian officials. The Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajjiva, has promised to speak with officials from both the U.S. and Russia on the sidelines of the upcoming November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Japan in an attempt to resolve the impasse.